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Happening ... in the Local Church
 Msgr.
John Duncan visits with some of those attending the Jan. 15 celebration
at Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Parish, Carmel. “The priesthood has been a
wonderful life,” he said. (Photo by Caroline B. Mooney) |
By Caroline B. Mooney
The
Catholic Moment
CARMEL — “The priesthood has been a wonderful life,” said Msgr. John C. Duncan. “I’ve made a lot of good friends. In the priesthood, you get the opportunity to deal with people on a level others don’t have.”
Msgr. Duncan, senior associate pastor at Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Church, Carmel, was ordained to the priesthood by Bishop John J. Carberry on May 28, 1960, at the Cathedral of St. Mary of the Immaculate Conception.
He fought the idea of a celebration for his golden jubilee. In talks with Father Richard Doerr, pastor of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel, he said, “Oh, Father, nothing is necessary. This is just my calling.”
“And so the negotiations began,” Father Doerr said.
“I’ve never been good with math, just tell them it’s my 49th year,” Msgr. Duncan said.
An agreement was reached to celebrate with Mass and a reception on Jan. 15 — not his May anniversary date — so as to avoid interfering with the celebration of ordinations of parish sons Mark Walter to the priesthood and Tony Rowland to the diaconate.
And more than 600 people — brother priests, religious, deacons, seminarians, parishioners and friends — came to honor the humble man.
“A good way to serve God and the people”
Born Sept. 5, 1934, the only child of the late John E. and Margaret E. Duncan, Msgr. Duncan is a native of Kokomo. He attended St. Patrick and St. Joan of Arc schools, and graduated from Our Lady of the Lake Seminary and St. Meinrad Seminary.
He was drawn to the priesthood from a young age.
“I thought it would be a good way to serve God and the people,” Msgr. Duncan said.
His family was religiously divided — his mother was a Catholic and his paternal relatives were staunch Calvinists. His father died when “Jack” was 3, and when his mother had tuberculosis, his paternal grandparents helped raise him. He attended the Calvinist church with them, but said he “really liked the Catholic Eucharist.”
Mrs. Duncan was very supportive and not at all surprised by her son’s decision to become a priest.
“But she did remind me that she had wanted grandchildren,” he said. “And before ordination, she taught me how to cook, so at least I wouldn’t starve to death.”
He said he found his first assignment as assistant pastor of St. Paul Church, Marion, “very exciting.” In 1965, he was named assistant at St. Mary Church, Anderson. He was appointed vice chancellor and secretary of the marriage tribunal in June 1967 while in residence at the Church of the Blessed Sacrament, West Lafayette.
Msgr. Duncan received his first pastorate in 1971 at St. Charles Church, Otterbein, and was named judicial vicar of the tribunal. That same year, he re-established the diocesan marriage tribunal.
In 1976, he was appointed pastor of St. Ann Church, Lafayette.
“In the early 1980s, we were in the midst of a bad recession,” he said, so in 1982 he started St. Ann’s Matthew 25 Share and Care soup kitchen, for which he received the “George Award” from the Lafayette Journal & Courier. Area needy still receive food each weekday at St. Ann’s.
“My mother was a great cook, and she helped direct the soup kitchen,” Msgr Duncan said. “Those were good days. The years at the Chancery were good, too. Bishop (Raymond) Gallagher was a very kind man.”
He said he enjoyed teaching high school in Anderson, Marion and Lafayette. While he was at St. Charles in Otterbein, he helped redecorate the church, and the basement was renovated into a CCD center.
“One thing that’s been very interesting over the years has been introducing people to the Bible — the New Testament and the Old Testament,” Msgr. Duncan said. “People are really fascinated when they get into it. It’s been a wonderful opportunity to help them come to know Jesus through the word of God.”
“An outstanding figure in the history of our Local Church”
Father Duncan received the distinction of prelate of honor with the title of reverend monsignor from Pope Paul VI in 1976 — an honor also conferred upon then-Father William L. Higi.
In 1984, Bishop Higi appointed Msgr. Duncan as vicar general, vicar for religious, personnel director of the diocese, and administrator of Sts. Peter and Paul Church, Goodland. He was appointed administrator of St. Joseph Church, Covington, in 1986, and pastor of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Church, Carmel, in 1987. In 2004, Msgr. Duncan was named senior associate at Our Lady of Mt. Carmel. He also serves as chaplain to the Little Sisters of the Poor at St. Augustine’s Home in Indianapolis.
“Most here know you not as a key person serving our Local Church at the diocesan level, but as a parish priest,” Bishop Higi said at the jubilee Mass. “Among those legions are those who came to you hungering for both spiritual and corporal food. Monsignor, you fed them. They thank you. Many also turned to you when they were thirsting, thirsting for understanding ... in their material needs … for someone to listen to them, thirsting because they were no longer able to provide for themselves or their families. Monsignor, these people who you touched, cried with and rejoiced over, thank you. The many, many, many sick who found you at their side with words of prayer and comfort, thank you. The imprisoned you have visited, thank you. The strangers who broke into your space in their time of need and who were welcomed, thank you. The many you have buried and their families who found comfort in the fact you were present in their time of need, thank you.
“… Yours is a track record that makes you an outstanding figure in the history of our Local Church,” Bishop Higi said. “Few, I suspect, realize that more than me. We lived together, worked together, and we have faced good times and times of challenge together. Our diocese has been blessed by your ministry. As diocesan bishop I acknowledge that and thank you.”
“He truly loves people with his whole heart”
“I owe so much to Monsignor,” Father Richard Doerr said. “He is definitely a father figure to many priests, myself included. He has been a tremendous mentor to me in the priesthood.
“I’ve never known a priest with more compassion,” he said. “Compassion means ‘to suffer with.’ Monsignor has the biggest heart and truly suffers with those who suffer. He truly loves people with his whole heart.
“First and foremost, he is a man of the sacraments,” Father Doerr said. “I have always been impressed that he is also not afraid to stand on the side of truth, no matter what the personal costs. He is a born teacher. And I have always enjoyed Monsignor’s sense of humor. He laughs at himself and can find the irony and humor in the crazy things that happen in our lives as priests.”
“Monsignor is a great man, one of the true saints of the Diocese of Lafayette,” said Father Kevin Haines, pastor of St. Maria Goretti, Westfield. “He has been a mentor for many priests and many seminarians. He is a good example for all of us of real compassion and Christian caring for all people.
“It doesn’t matter who you are or where you are from or what you do for a living, Msgr. Duncan is always there to help out and be an example of Christ in their lives,” Father Haines said. “He is a great man and certainly deserving of the recognition he is receiving for his 50th anniversary.”
Joe Kiley and “Jack” have been friends since first grade at St. Patrick School. Though a resident of Fishers, Kiley joined Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Church when he realized his old friend was serving there. They go to lunch together at least once each month.
“I just love him to death,” Kiley said. “I remember standing in his family room with both our families on the day of his ordination and Jack showed me his chalice. I was there at the first Mass he celebrated the next day. He is an exceptionally intelligent man.”
At the end of Mass on Jan. 15, Father Doerr presented Msgr. Duncan with a memory book compiled by the parish.
“Thank you very, very much,” Msgr. Duncan said. “This is a great surprise; it’s such a significant outpouring. I am grateful to you all. … What is important is priesthood. In one of his books, the Holy Father Pope Benedict wrote about when he was ordained. People in a little Bavarian village in Germany, probably an all-Catholic town, had a celebration for three days. He kept reminding himself that what was important was not him, Joseph Ratzinger, but what was important was Jesus the high priest. This is significant. Jesus has given us the Church and he has also given us the ministerial to serve the priesthood. The sacraments depend upon this. I am grateful to you all for your faithfulness to our Lord Jesus. Thank you.”
With no plans to retire, Msgr. Duncan will keep on serving the Local Church as long as he is able. And many are grateful.